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Preemption and Just War: Considering the Case of Iraq
Chaplain (Colonel) Franklin Eric Wester, US Army Reserve, is assigned as the Command Chaplain for the US Army Reserve Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia. As a Lutheran minister, he has served as an Army Chaplain since 1982 in the active component, the Army National Guard, and the US Army Reserve. He was the Joint Task Force Chaplain for Operation Provide Refuge, an interagency mission aiding Kosovar refugees. He holds master’s degrees from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and the US Army War College.

This article demonstrates that the use of military force by the Bush Administration against the regime of Saddam Hussein does not meet the ethical criteria for “preemptive war” set forth in the classical Just War tradition. It considers ethical questions raised by the US-led attack against Iraq as part of the war against global terrorism and argues that the doctrine of preemptive war as applied in the case of Iraq fails crucial ethical tests....